#Christmas Themed #AmReading + #AmWatching + #AmListening - #Reviews For December 26th 2019 (Plus The "My Year In Books" Tag)

So many books, so little time.
~Frank Zappa

Welcome to this week's weekly media shares and reviews post!

Happy Boxing Day, and I hope you had a very merry Christmas, or whatever else you celebrate.

*Disclaimer: no matter what's being reviewed, all opinions in this post are entirely my own, and I reserve the right to have them, regardless of who may or may not share them. Feel free to express your own in the comments, but please respect my right - and the rights of other commenters - to have opinions that might differ from yours, and to express those opinions too.

Also, please remember that I read/watch/listen to things in a variety of genres, and for all ages, so you should make sure you check that the book/movie/show/song is suitable for the intended audience before reading/watching/listening to it, especially if children are involved. I take no responsibility for anything which may happen as a result of failing to do so.

If you want to know more about the book, or the author, click on whichever it is you want to learn more about, and it will take you to the appropriate page on Goodreads. Clicking on my rating should take you to my actual Goodreads review for the book in question. Please bear in mind that the format I've reviewed on Goodreads may not be the format I actually read.

Alternatively, if it's a movie or TV show you want to know more about, just click on the title to go to a page where you can find out more details about the movie or TV show in question; the title links will usually take you to a page on IMDB.

Unless otherwise stated, all music videos are via YouTube.

OK, so... Let's see what I've been reading, watching, and listening to, shall we? Other than my yearly reading of "The Bear Father Christmas Forgot" and viewing of "Santa Clause: The Movie" of course. *wink*

So... This week I read...

The Christmas Hypothesis by Anna Blix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a sweet and touching story, which makes for an enjoyable holiday read.

Oh Baubles by Harmony Kent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a beautifully written and enchanting tale, which is perfect for those Winter evenings when you want to curl up with a sweet romance story. If you're a fan of those feel good holiday romances, you should give this one a read.

the home for christmas anthology by Christina Rossetti
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A delightful collection of Wintery poems.

Jake & The Gingerbread Wars by E.G. Foley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I haven't read the others in the series, but figured it didn't matter, since this one is advertized as being suitable as a stand-alone title. Well, either that's not true, and reading this book (which is book 3.5 in the series officially) out of order means I missed out on understanding some things about the world and characters, or the plot and characters need some work. Whichever is the case, though I liked it enough to give it three stars, I most certainly didn't love it. Do I want to read the other books in the series to find out what I might have missed before, and what comes after? Yes. But there are plenty of books I'm much more eager to read first.

As for what I've been watching this week...

I watched a lot of things over the past week. I watched all of "The Big Bang Theory" season 7 and 8 (6 DVDs). I also watched more episodes of "Rugrats" and "A Christmas Carol" (the 1951 version) on Amazon Prime. Plus, I watched some of the Harry Potter movies on Sky Cinema Harry Potter (yes, that's a real thing... It is at the moment anyhow) and a couple of new to me Christmas movies on Sky Cinema Christmas, so here are the reviews for those new to me movies:

12 Men of Christmas (2009 TV movie):
This was one of those predictable but sweet movies some of us love to watch this time of year (and other times of year in some cases). If you're a fan of the Hallmark type movies, you'll likely enjoy this one. Though it wasn't the best I've seen. Still good though, if you like that kind of thing. I give this movie four out of five stars.

The Grinch (2018 movie):
This was a pretty good movie. Not as fun and entertaining as the version with Jim Carrey from 2000, and yet still enjoyable. There seemed to be even more focus on the true meaning of Christmas than I've seen in any other version of this story, which was nice. Even if Jim Carrey was a better Grinch in my opinion, and the version of the movie with him in it was more entertaining. Anyway, I give this movie four out of five stars.

Last, but not least, this week I've been listening to...

Christmas music again! Yeah, big surprise, I don't think. Haha! Anyway, I'm making the most of this final opportunity to share a Christmasy tune before December is over with a hope that you'll hold on to the feelings of Christmas time all year around. Keep Christmas throughout the year, as Scrooge learned to do.

***~~~***

So, officially this post should be ended now. However, I found this "My 2019 in Books" tag here on Jemima Pett's blog. As she says in her post, she got it from somewhere else, but it's her who brought it to my attention. Anyway, I thought I'd do it, which I'm sure you're not surprised to hear, and - since I'm quickly running out of posting days in 2019 - decided I could just add it to this week's review post. It was really either that or leave posting it until January. So... *shrugs*

Anyway, the idea is that you complete the sentences with titles of books you’ve read in the year. You can copy the prompts and just use those, like I have, or even add some of your own. So, why not play along? You know you want to!

Here's my 2019 in Books:

I would describe this year as being: A Gypsy Song
I’m tipping that the next big thing in Reality TV shows will be: A Book of Nonsense
I could have cried when: Whispers Of The Past
I would love to have some respite from: Rivalry
The most unexpected thing that happened this year involved: Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction
My non-bookish friends would say I: Qualify
My motto for 2020 will be: Once Upon a Unicorn
I am most looking forward to: Breakfast By The Sea
A recurring dream I’ve had this year features: Wolves
If you looked under my couch you would see: Will O' the Wisp
If I could no longer blog, I would probably pursue a career in: The Gemini Connection
Something most people don’t know about me is: The Calling

To find out who the authors of the books I used for this challenge are, or to see a list of all the books I've so far read in 2019, check out my year in books on Goodreads. Or you could wait until next week to check that out, so there's time for whatever I read between now and Tuesday to be included in it.